Calgary Indigenous artists share ‘incredible diversity’ of wearable art traditions

This new year brings a new chance for Calgarians to get in touch with some very old traditions.

Local Indigenous artists are showcasing a strong connection with nature that goes back many centuries.

The artists are spending January at Sparrow Artspace in Calgary’s Bridgeland neighbourhood, working with traditional materials like animal pelts and antlers to create wearable art.

“This is pike,” artist Staci Duchene-Wolfe said, pointing to fish skin hanging on a wall at the gallery. “You could use it for clothing, you could use it for bracelets.”

The artists have put several pelts on display at Sparrow Artspace, to help gallery visitors learn about Indigenous practices that go back hundreds of years.

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“The river otter we would use it on the inside of gloves,” Duchene-Wolfe said. “So we’re inviting people to come in and actually touch the materials, and they can relate to what we use on the land.”

The artists are hoping the exhibit will help keep this part of their culture alive for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

“It’s how we signify who we are and when it becomes endangered we lose aspects of it,” artist Riel Starr said. “It’s important to show and to share, to keep this alive.”

The artists will also be running workshops at Sparrow Artspace throughout January, to give others a chance to try the traditional techniques.

“This is a great way to get people to feel connected. There’s such an incredible diversity of wearable art that Indigenous artists are making in Calgary,” artist Danielle Piper said. “For Indigenous people, it’s really healing and fueling for us.

“I’m excited by the idea that I will continue to learn.”

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